Magic of the Revolution
by Lena Liz Carter
Summary: It's been a year since the end of the First Wizarding War, but the world still lives in fear. Because of this the Ministry sends a new Security Advisor to Hogwarts - Dolores Umbridge. In the name of security she tries to seize control of the school. What happens when she meets a group of French students with a leader, who refuses to acknowledge her authority? M/C, slight E/É
1. Les Amis Get Detention

**A conclusive proof that I have gone completely mad.**

**My first big crossover. Expect a lot of pranks, some drama, some romance (and if you hate the E/É ship, just stop reading here). I tried to give some space to some minor characters, such as Azelma and some of the less popular Les Amis. The fiction is based mostly on the musical, but some facts are taken from the Brick.**

**I have seen a couple of debates about sorting Les Amis into Houses. You see my version here and I have reason for each and every one sorting (even though in cases of some characters the reasons are really lame). So if you don't understand my decision, ask me and I can explain why I did this or that.**

**Have fun and please, review to let me know that if I continue, someone will read the thing.**

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**1. Les Amis Get Detention**

Nobody, alive or dead, human or not, ever missed Les Amis arriving to school. It started when Enjolras was in his third year. It seemed like a normal arrival day, up until Les Amis set off a dozen Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start No-Heat Fireworks in the Entrance Hall. The next year it was Dungbombs, one on every stair of the Grand Staircase. In Enjolras' fifth year Filch had already been waiting for them, but they still managed to turn half of the suits of armor in the Entrance Hall into giant parrots before Filch got to them. It was the earliest detention ever given. When Enjolras reached his sixth year, Filch had been waiting outside, and Les Amis dyed his hair blond and turned all of his clothes bright pink, setting a new record. Not even Dumbledore remembered anyone getting a month's worth of detention before entering the castle.

Naturally this year everybody expected something breathtaking. Most of Les Amis were entering their seventh year and they had their last opportunity to show Hogwarts "the French way". The two compartments they took up on the train were visited by almost every student. Some of them just gawked, some of them dared to ask questions, but they only got enigmatic smiles and polite assurances that Les Amis were all grown up and cared nothing for childish pranks.

They all gathered at the platform in Hogsmeade. Enjolras looked over his group of friends. Marius, at Enjolras' right as usual, was grinning widely, while Courfeyrac at his left looked solemn, with the exception of the sparks in his eyes. Combeferre, the mastermind of this plan, seemed to be counting the people.

"Someone confiscate that Firewhiskey," Enjolras said.

Jehan snatched the flask from Grantaire's hand and passed it to Joly, who hid it in his pocket. Enjolras checked his boys (and three girls) for the last time.

"Ready to raise some hell?" he asked.

"Ready!"

"You know your places. Go!" he ordered them.

Les Amis dissolved in the crowd. He saw Grantaire squeeze in a carriage full of third-year Hufflepuffs and Courfeyrac trying to charm two Ravenclaw girls and their Slytherin friend. Everything was going according to the plan.

Filch was ready and he searched every one of Les Amis. He didn't find anything suspicious, not a single Dungbomb. After the extensive search Courfeyrac asked Filch for a date. The caretaker looked like he was ready to bludgeon someone to death with a broomstick, but he didn't see Éponine slipping past the students and disappearing in the upper floors, and that was the whole point.

Les Amis sat at their respective tables. Most of them at Gryffindor table, but some of them headed to Ravenclaw table and Grantaire, Feuilly, and Bossuet belonged to Hufflepuff. But even those, who were in the same House, didn't sit together. People everywhere whispered to each other, even teachers exchanged some surprised glances. Did the famous Les Amis really grow up?

The feast went on as usual. The only mildly interesting part was the Sorting. There was a new French student, transfered from Beauxbatons. She was going to be in the fifth year and her name seemed to be Euphrasie. Enjolras saw Grantaire cheering, when she was sorted in Hufflepuff, and Bossuet knocking over a jug of pumpkin juice, when he tried to shake her hand. She was a pretty little thing, but Enjolras turned his attention to Sorting of first-years. Éponine's and Azelma's little brother was sorted in Gryffindor and Enjolras had to smile when he saw the little kid trying to look dignified as he sat as far from his sisters as possible. Gavroche knew about their plan and was not going to spoil it.

After the Sorting, Dumbledore announced that their new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, Dolores Umbridge, was going to arrive the next day, because she was "otherwise occupied". Everything was suspiciously normal. Until Dumbledore sent them to their dormitories.

As soon as the headmaster finished, Courfeyrac climbed on the table and whistled loudly. This was the signal for Les Amis to run to the Entrance Hall. They were the first to get out and soon everyone found out why.

The Grand Staircase was barricaded. There was a huge pile of furniture on the top of it, complete with French flags. The white on the tricolor was replaced with yellow, so it represented the three houses of Les Amis – Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Peeves, who had built the barricade during the feast, was hovering couple of inches above the biggest flag, looking extremely pleased with himself. All of Les Amis took their places on the barricade and looked down on the students and teachers below.

"You English are quite good with animals. You have your thestrals, your owls, and your cats," Enjolras nodded to Filch. "But there are two animals French know, and when it comes to those, there is no match for us anywhere. Gentlemen!" he waved at his friends.

Les Amis raised their wands.

"And ladies," he turned to Éponine, Azelma, and Musichetta. They were ready.

"Now!"

"_Ranavis_!"

"_Cochleavis_!"

"_Wingardium leviosa_!"

Half of the wands started shooting frogs. The other half was producing snails at alarming rate. A few chosen ones, who didn't belong in either group, were levitating the animals and dropping them on the students below.

"_Vive la France_!" Enjorlas shouted as he dropped a particularly big toad on Filch's head.

* * *

"What's wrong, Marius?" asked Joly.

Les Amis were sitting in their favorite place to hang out at night – the abandoned corridor on third floor. Little Gavroche wanted to come along, but his sisters explained to him that he doesn't need to get in trouble on his first night. It was enough that all of the older ones got detention.

"Have a drink and spill the beans," Grantaire passed his flask of Firewhiskey to the unusually quiet Marius.

"You didn't see her?" Marius asked.

"Who? There is a lot of girls around here," Bahorel said.

"_Her_. The new girl." Marius sighed dreamily. "Euphrasie..."

"She hates that name. She prefers to be called Cosette," said Bossuet.

"You talked to her?" Marius perked up. "To Cosette?"

"Did someone slip a love potion in your pumpkin juice?" Enjolras asked. This conversation was getting boring. "Just ask her out on the next trip to Hogsmeade."

"Éponine, she's in your year, you have Herbology together. Can you deliver a letter for me?"

_Ouch, _Enjolras thought. Everybody knew about the epic crush Éponine had had on Marius for years. Everybody except Marius himself.

"The girl's not an owl," Combeferre tried to stop him, but Éponine shook her head.

"It's okay. I can deliver a message. We have Herbology on Wednesday, you have plenty of time to write it."

"Thank you, Éponine," Marius hugged her. "You are the best."

Éponine blushed deep red. Even Enjolras, who wasn't the brightest star in the skies when it came to girls, wondered how could Marius _not _notice. Jehan and Courfeyrac, who were on the top of the Hogwarts Girls' Most Wanted List, snickered quietly behind their hands. Enjolras kicked Jehan in the shin at the same time Combeferre nudged Courfeyrac in the ribs, because Éponine had looked up.

"We shall welcome the new girl in the ranks of Les Amis, if she wants to," Enjolras told Marius. "You can invite her to out next meeting."

"Here?" Marius looked at the dusty corridor.

"Our next _daylight _meeting. She doesn't get invited _here_ until she proves herself worthy," Enjolras sighed. The girl obviously used Confundus Charm on him, Marius used to know the routine perfectly well.

"I didn't have to prove myself worthy," Azelma chimed in.

"You only think that," Grantaire smiled. "Remember when Filch almost caught us smuggling the Firewhiskey from Hogsmeade and you told him that somebody tied a can to Mrs. Norris' tail to make him go to the other side of the castle?"

"Yeah, and we needed a mascot," Musichetta added.

Azelma punched her lightly in the arm and opened her mouth for a clever comeback, but she was silenced by a single short beep. Combeferre pulled out his watch, checked it and nodded.

"Five minutes to midnight," he said.

"Thank you," Enjolras said. "Courf, Azelma, go."

The two chosen ones got up and quietly slipped out. Les Amis learned long ago that when they were leaving their late night meetings, the best strategy was to split up. After five minutes, when the clock stroke twelve, the three Hufflepuffs left. Then every five minutes two of them went back to their dorms. First Musichetta and Joly headed to Ravenclaw tower, then Bahorel and Marius to Gryffindor, after that Combeferre and Jehan to Ravenclaw, and the last pair was, as usual, Enjolras and Éponine. Enjolras because he was their leader, so he naturally took the most risky position, and Éponine, because she had some kind of special power, that allowed her to pass unnoticed anywhere at any time.

They reached the common room without any complications, but Enjolras wanted to tell her one last thing.

"Éponine?"

"Yes?"

"You are not Marius' house elf."


	2. Les Amis Meet Dolores

**New chapter when the plot gets a much more specific shape. Enjolras meets his new teacher and she makes clear that she is in charge of things... for now. Everyone makes fun of Marius, as usual, and Jehan comes with a surprising news.**

**This story is already living it's own life and it decided to take a much darker turn in approximately chapter 4. But don't worry, I'm keeping Les Amis and I can't see them finishing the story without any fun at all.**

**SO, please, review, tell me what you think.**

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**2. Les Amis Meet Dolores**

Almost seven years ago a group of old French wizard families decided to let their children study at Hogwarts rather than Beauxbatons. Voldemort was on the rise, and they thought that Dumbledore's school was going be safer than even a continental one. Some of them thought that the education there was better. Some of them thought that British education was going to become new fashion. The reasons were different, but the result was the same – creation of Les Amis.

It started the very first year of this fashion. Ever since Bossuet saved Marius from an unfortunate misunderstanding with Professor McGonagall and Combeferre stopped Enjolras from ruining his potion ten minutes before the end of the class, Les Amis created an inseparable group and all French students in Hogwarts gravitated towards them. The fashion didn't last and that left almost all of Les Amis in two consecutive years.

That meant that they were all (with the exception of Éponine and Azelma) past their OWLs and shared classes. All of seventh-years shared only one – Defense Against Dark Arts on Wednesday morning.

"Who do you think we are going to have this year?" asked Marius on the way from breakfast.

"Her name is Dolores Umbridge," said Combeferre. "Dumbledore told us."

"I know, I mean _who _is she? Defense is not going to be so important now that You-Know-Who is gone, but still..." Marius left the sentence unfinished. It was almost a year since Voldemort disappeared after trying to kill Harry Potter, but all Hogwarts students were still putting extra efforts in DADA classes.

"Maybe she'll be something like Professor Darryl," Grantaire smiled at the memory of their last teacher. Clementine Darryl had to be the worst Metamorphomagus ever. She always got stuck with an extra ear or frizzy blue hair. The worst accident happened in June, when she tried to change the shape of her lips and made them grow together. As far as they knew, she was still in St. Mungo's. Still, Professor Darryl wasn't a bad teacher and not a bad witch either (except for the whole Metamorphomagus thing).

"I've heard that the new one is from the Ministry," Feuilly chimed in. "Maybe she's an Auror. That would be cool."

Enjolras opened the door of the DADA classroom and froze. "Or maybe not," he said.

The plump woman behind the desk was dressed all in pink and had the most sickeningly sweet smile Enjolras had ever seen. A couple of students had already been there and most of them looked halfway between nausea and denial. Professor Umbridge gestured them to sit down and after a couple of Slytherins arrived, she started the lesson.

"Good morning, children," she said and obviously waited for an answer. After a few muttered good mornings, she clicked her tongue.

"No, this won't do at all. I want all of you to answer me: _Good morning, Professor Umbridge. _Let's try again, shall we? Good morning, children."

"Good morning, Professor Umbridge," they said.

"Very good. Now wands away, please, and quills out."

_Wands away? This is a NEWT class, for Merlin's sake! Who does she think we are, first-years? _Enjolras thought. He saw Grantaire and Combeferre exchange a concerned look. They had had a teacher, who stressed the importance of theory, and it didn't go well.

"We all share one goal this year – you successfully passing your NEWT exams. I understand that my predecessors insisted on teaching you practical defensive spells. The reasoning behind this procedure was that a certain Dark wizard and his followers could target anyone, even children. However this danger is no longer imminent, so you no longer need to concern yourself with such nonsense. You're perfectly safe now."

"Yeah, cause there wasn't a Death Eater attack just two weeks ago," Grantaire snickered quietly.

"Do you want to ask a question, Mr...?"

"Grantaire. No, thanks."

"But I do," Enjolras raised his hand.

"Yes, dear?" Professor Umbridge turned to him with a sickeningly sweet smile. "What's your name?"

"Sebastien Enjolras. What do you mean by perfectly safe? I am quite sure that there are still Death Eaters on the run and they are still attacking people."

Her smile grew even wider and Enjolras suddenly thought that she resembled a toad. "Quite sure? Did you _see_ any Death Eaters, Mr. Enjolras? Did you witness any attacks?"

"No, but we all read the _Prophet_. You-Know-Who might be gone, but they say he's not dead and his followers certainly aren't." Enjolras wasn't going to give up. "And who says he won't come back? Who says there won't be another one? We need to know how to protect ourselves."

"There's nothing you need protecting from, Mr. Enjolras. Now, please, open your book and read Chapter One. You _need _to know the answers to your test questions. And that means all of you. Chapter One, page 5." The false sweetness was gone from Professor Umbridge's voice. She turned away from Enjolras, but he wasn't done with her. He raised his hand again, but Combeferre kicked his ankle. When Enjolras looked at his friend, Combeferre just shook his head and started writing on a piece of parchment.

Enjolras put his hand down and pretended to read the chapter. He hated to be defeated. After a moment Combeferre passed him a note.

_Don't argue with her. You can't beat her. Let's talk about it after class._

Enjolras glanced at Professor Umbridge who was now sitting behind her desk and reading something. He took his quill and scribbled the answer:

_Fine. But you better have something good to say._

* * *

"Talk!" Enjolras barked at Combeferre the moment they left the classroom.

"You're not going to achieve anything this way. You're only going to get more detention. Let's just suffer it, all right?" Combeferre reasoned. "It's not like we haven't learned enough to pass our NEWTs already and more than enough to survive peaceful time. Besides, we still have the Defense Club," he reminded him.

Enjolras smiled at the memory of the study group half of Hogwarts attended to learn a little bit more about counter-curses and protective spells. "Speaking of which, did Flitwick give us the date of the first meeting?"

"Not yet, but I have Charms next, so I can ask him. Which reminds me I should really go now. Marius, are you coming?" Combeferre turned to their friend. "Marius?"

But Marius was not listening, instead he was staring at a certain cute Hufflepuff student. Enolras wasn't sure, but he thought he saw drool in the corner of Marius' mouth.

"Can I jinx him? Please?" Grantaire begged Enjolras.

"No."

"Pretty please?"

Suddenly Marius' hair turned neon green. Combeferre turned to Grantaire, who raised his hands palms up to show that he had nothing to do with it. Enjolras looked up and saw Azelma perched on the shoulder of the statue of Serena the Sinister. Éponine's little sister was barely suppressing laughter, as she slid off the statue and landed next to Enjolras.

"Sorry 'bout that," she nodded her head in Marius' direction. "I can't figure out how to make pink. Also I tried making those little cupids we had last Valentine's Day..."

"Put it right, Azelma," Enjolras told her.

"No, please," begged Grantaire, who was trying not to laugh aloud so hard, that he was crying now. "He has only Charms now, Flitwick won't mind. Enjolras, please!"

Enjolras turned to Combeferre, who just shrugged. He knew that if he told Azelma one more time to undo her spell, she would. But Marius, who didn't notice anything yet, didn't deserve to be a laughing stock for the rest of the day.

"Éponine! Did you give her my letter? Did you invite her to a meeting? What did she say? Is she coming? You didn't tell her anything that might scare her off, did you?"

Or maybe...

"Make sure he doesn't set his head on fire when he finds out," Enjolras told Combeferre. They all knew that when Marius got upset, things tended to burst into flames.

"I think we have all mastered the Water-Making Spell well enough during the last six years with Marius. Come on, lover boy, she can wait, Flitwick can't," Combeferre pulled Marius' sleeve. They watched them go, Marius' head clearly visible even in the crowd. Other students were trying their best to conceal their giggling as they passed them by and Enjolras was quite sure that he saw Professor McGonagall roll her eyes and walk the other way.

"Bet you ten Knuts that when he comes to the meeting, he still won't know," said Bossuet.

"I'm in. He isn't that dumb," muttered Feuilly.

Betting against Bossuet was usually quite a safe bet, considering his terrible luck. This time was not an exception. When they met in the afternoon in an abandoned classroom, Marius stormed in like a rhinoceros, his hair wet, sticking to his face, and slightly smoking, but its normal color.

"Which of you jerks...?" he yelled.

Azelma kept a remarkable poker face, but Feuilly nudged Bossuet and caught Marius' attention.

"_She _told me! _Cosette _saw it and she told me! Are you trying to ruin my life?"

"Actually," said Courfeyrac, who had been complaining just a minute ago that hadn't seen Marius' new image, "it was a nice opportunity to talk to her. It's not our fault if you mucked it up."

Marius hesitated for a moment and then carried on: "Anyway, she is coming here today, so please try to behave like people and not like a bunch of baboons."

"Maybe we should throw her a welcoming parade," Bahorel muttered.

Enjolras saw with the corner of his eye that Éponine hugged her knees as she was fighting to keep her happy face on. Azelma hugged her with one her and reached for her wand with the other.

"_Protego,_" Enjolras whispered and Azelma's spell bounced off the invisible wall, hit a stuffed Grindylow and turned it bright pink.

"Got the pink," Azelma murmured happily.

Understanding dawned on Marius' face, but before he could say a word, there was a knock on the door. Enjolras gestured Courfeyrac, who was the closest, to go and open it.

"Good afternoon to you, mademoiselle, we have been expecting you," Courfeyrac invited Cosette in.

The blond girl looked scared by the huge group that met there. She sighed in relief when she saw Marius and sat down next to him. Musichetta passed her a Butterbeer and Courfeyrac offered her a Chocolate Frog. Cosette politely refused, but Marius stared at Courfeyrac until his tie started to smoke.

"Welcome, Cosette. I'm Enjolras and I'm sure Marius will introduce you to the rest soon enough. Just have fun, that's pretty much the point of these meetings," Enjolras told her.

"Yeah, the biggest thing we do is our traditional Welcome Back to Hogwarts prank," Grantaire added.

"Which reminds me, Enjolras, Chetta, the three of us is supposed to report to Snape's office tomorrow at seven," Bahorel said. "Probably another evening of scrubbing old cauldrons."

Courfeyrac tossed a sugar mouse to Joly. Joly missed it, the mouse ran under a chest of drawers, and he had to use the Summoning Charm to get it out. It came out covered in dust and even though Joly, the expert on hygiene spells, cleaned it of every speck of dust, he still gave it to Combeferre.

"See?" Combeferre turned to Cosette, waving the sugar mouse for emphasis. "We are not as dangerous as Filch makes us sound. We enjoy some nice, quiet..."

The door flew open and Jehan stormed in, waving a piece of paper.

"It's all over the school! The Defense Club has been canceled!"


	3. Les Amis Are Not Happy

**Another chapter! Umbridge plays her first card and Enjolras is getting ready for a comeback. Please, review! Do you like the story so far?**

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**3. Les Amis Are Not Happy**

Everybody tried to pry the paper from Jehan's hand at once. There was a ripping sound and Jehan, Courfeyrac, Bahorel, and Musichetta each ended up with one part of the paper. Enjolras shot some sparks from the tip of his wand to calm them down.

"Give it here," he took all the pieces and laid them on a desk. "_Reparo_!"

He straightened what looked like an official notification and skimmed through it. _Educational Decree Fourteen... new free time activities policy... all student organizations focusing on activities potentially dangerous for the health of the students... disbanded..._

"I already talked to Flitwick. He said that Umbridge passed this. It's designed specifically to ban the Defense Club," Jehan said. "These notifications are everywhere. And look, Dolores Umbridge was appointed _the Chief Security Advisor._"

"But why?" Éponine wondered. "There hasn't been even the first meeting of the year."

"Isn't it obvious?"

Combeferre didn't join the mayhem around the paper. He sat on another desk and twirled his wand. Enjolras looked at him and suddenly understood. It was so easy, but the others didn't see it.

"Go on," he told Combeferre.

"It's not a year since the end of the war yet. People at the Ministry are afraid of another organized group that might stand against them. And anyone who can defend himself can attack as well."

"You think they are afraid of _us_?" Joly couldn't believe it.

Combeferre just shrugged. "You-Know-Who was defeated by a toddler. After the chaos of the war people want to feel like things are under control again. And if there's one thing that can justify anything, it's the safety of children."

* * *

"This is unbelievable, she's everywhere," muttered Bahorel two weeks later at dinner. "She's been _supervising _our Quidditch practice again."

"She's been sitting there like she's a toad and we're all flies," Azelma added, watching Umbridge with a dark expression. "Honestly, I'm afraid that she'll just shoot out her tongue and steal the Snitch from under my nose. She's wicked enough to do it."

"Come on, she doesn't do anything. She just watches," Éponine tried to calm the two Quidditch players down.

_Let's just suffer it, all right? _said Combeferre two weeks ago. Enjolras was not sure that he could. Umbridge didn't exactly _do _anything, but, just like Bahorel said, she was _everywhere_. Under the pretense that she was making sure every activity is perfectly safe for the students, she attended the classes of other teachers, student clubs, Quidditch practices, even the qualification matches for the Gobstones Tournament.

Enjolras had no idea how she found out, but he was sure she knew about their night meetings. Just two days ago all Gryffindor Les Amis were stuck in their tower because Umbridge was sitting right in front of the Fat Lady all night. After that Enjolras commanded all of Les Amis to lie low and keep their noses clean. He set an example by not arguing with her in class and quietly reading his book instead.

"Why doesn't Dumbledore do anything?" said Marius. He had spent the whole afternoon with Cosette and was able to focus on something else for a couple of hours.

"I don't think he can," said Éponine. "If he tried to, they would accuse him of putting the students in danger and fire him."

"That's poppycock," Marius snorted. Éponine bowed her head to hide her hurt expression, and Enjolras wanted to punch the ignorance out of him once again. "They _need _Dumbledore."

"Éponine is right," Enjolras said. "They needed him when he was the Only One He Ever Feared. But You-Know-Who is gone, the was is over, and I bet that Dumbledore is on some kind of list of threats to the Ministry. They would be more than happy to get rid of him. One wrong move and he ends up in Azkaban."

Éponine shuddered and wrapped her robe tighter around her shoulders. Azelma stabbed a piece of roast beef with her fork so hard she broke off one of the tines. Enjolras knew that the girls had been there. Their parents served a week in Azkaban for one of their "jobs" and Éponine and Azelma had to pick them up. Éponine mentioned it once or twice and Azelma pretended that it never happened, but Les Amis still had an unwritten rule not to talk about Azkaban in front of them.

"She can't do this," Azelma said and she kept stabbing her roast beef with the broken fork. "She _can't. _I mean, you guys are fine, you'll leave at the end of the year, but I'm stuck with her for three more years."

"No, you aren't. She's a DADA teacher," Éponine tried to cheer her sister up. "She'll have some nasty accident before the final exams."

"You promise?" Azelma beamed.

Enjolras looked at the Thénardier sisters and though that, for their sake, someone should probably help the accident a little bit. Who said that bad things must happen to DADA teachers only in June? October was as good a time as any other.

"I do," he said.

* * *

There was no night meeting of Les Amis for a whole week. Enjolras rarely talked to anyone, but he stayed up late. Éponine caught him once at two o'clock in the morning in the Common Room, burning a piece of parchment.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Enjolras flinched and turned around, visibly relieved, when he saw only Éponine.

"Nothing, just... no, nothing."

"That's one hell of a reason to stay awake all night," she smiled.

"What's your reason?"

"Amanda is snoring again," Éponine smiled sadly. "And growing up with my parents... it makes one a light sleeper."

"I think I've heard of an Anti-Snoring Potion, I can look it up," Enjolras started rummaging through his books and papers. One booklet fell off the pile without him noticing. Éponine picked it up and looked at the cover.

"What do you need a catalog from Zonko's for?" she said, frowning.

Enjolras snatched it from her hands. "It's just... a project of mine. It's nothing."

"The same nothing that is slowly turning you into a creature of the night?" she smiled. His angry reaction didn't scare her, she had seen much worse. They stared at each other for a moment before he gave up.

"Listen, I just want a revenge for canceling the Defense Club. Nothing big, but I need to do it alone. I don't want anyone else in trouble. Don't tell the others, please."

"We _are _in trouble," she reminded him softly. "We are Les Amis, that marks us as troublemakers. Yesterday Umbridge took fifteen points from Gryffindor because I wasn't concentrating on my book, like anyone ever does. She's waiting for one mistake to expel at least one of us and if you do this alone, you will make that mistake and she will win."

Enjolras looked at her for a long time. Then he gave her the catalog back.

"Do you want to help me?"

Éponine took it and curled up in one of the armchairs. She skimmed through the catalog, occasionally smiling. Without raising her eyes from the colorful pages, she said:

"So, what kind of revenge do you have in mind?"

* * *

"We have handpicked each and every one of you to help us with our mission – to avenge our Defense Club," Enjolras started the night meeting.

The four people he and Éponine invited exchanged confused glances.

"I originally wanted to execute this plan myself, but, as Éponine pointed out, we can't allow to make a mistake. First, you can't say a word about anything I say tonight to anyone, except the other Amis. Is that understood?"

"Why?" Azelma asked.

"You should know better than that, sis," Éponine said. "This is not just an ordinary prank and the less people know, the better."

"Do you promise to keep the secret?" Enjolras pressed.

One by one, they nodded.

"Courfeyrac, no bragging in front of the girls," he reminded. "Azelma, no rebellion this time. All right, the key people to this plan are Éponine and Combeferre, as he is the best in Care of Magical Creatures here. The rest of us is going to act as lookouts and diversion."

"You expect some magical creatures to show up?" Combeferre asked.

"Oh yes," Éponine smiled widely.

"Is it a vampire?" Azelma brightened.

"Gosh, Azelma, it's not a vampire, stop reading that Muggle book," Éponine rolled her eyes.

"You don't even know how great Lestat is!"

Enjolras cleared his throat and both sisters fell silent.

"Courf, Feuilly, please think about how can we cause a slight distraction. A plan that doesn't involve giving Grantaire a bottle of Firewhiskey and playing Celestina Warbeck would be appreciated."

"Maybe we can play the Weird Sisters? Grantaire loves _Do the Hipogriff_..."

"No!"

"If I may..." Combeferre said contemplatively, "I think I have an idea how to cause a little chaos."

"Go on," Enjolras said.

"Maybe... can we meet here tomorrow? I need to check something in the library..."


	4. Les Amis Fight

**This is a dark chapter, I think one of the darkest. Things are moving forward at the speed of light. Get ready for badass Enjolras, Feuilly and Éponine, and a teeny tiny Pokémon reference.**

**As usual, please, review, every time I hear from you, I go and write another paragraph. :-) Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, you were very nice to me.**

* * *

**4. Les Amis Fight**

"Everything ready?" Enjolras asked Azelma and Courfeyrac.

Courfeyrac nodded. "Peeves is wreaking havoc in the basement and we made sure that Mrs. Norris saw it. Feuilly saw Umbridge on her way there and it's just a question of time until Filch gets there as well. We are clear. How are Ferre and Éponine doing?"

"They have smuggled all seven cages in, Joly and Chetta helped them. I think they have set the first two," said Enjolras.

Courfeyrac looked out of the window. "It's almost dawn. They should hurry up."

"You can go to bed," Enjolras told him. "I want to keep Azelma as a lookout, but you did your job. Éponine, Feuilly, and Ferre are going to do the rest."

"Speaking of the devil," Azelma pointed to the end of the corridor, where the three people Enjolras had just mentioned appeared.

"How are you doing?" Enjolras asked.

"Six cages in place. This one," Éponine pointed at the large cage covered by a piece of cloth, carried by Combeferre, "goes to the Great Hall."

"Fine. Feuilly, Courf, you can go, just make sure Filch and Umbridge are still in the basement. I'll go to set the last cage with you," said Enjolras. "And remember to find Joly in the morning, he'll make sure you don't look sleepy."

The next morning everything looked normal. It was Wednesday and the seventh-years had Defense Against Dark Arts first thing in the morning. Les Amis were not in a hurry. When Enjolras lazily got up from his breakfast, he saw Éponine gathering her things before she headed off to Herbology. She winked at him and tapped at her watch.

Enjolras walked out of the Great Hall, followed by Combeferre, Marius, Bossuet, Feuilly, Grantaire, and Musichetta. There was no joking, just quiet expectation. When they opened the door to the DADA classroom, they heard an ear-splitting shriek. Professor Umbrdige sprinted out of her office and halted when she saw the students like she wasn't expecting them.

"What's wrong, Professor?" somebody asked.

In response about half a dozen blue Cornish Pixies flew out of Umbridge's office. One of them stole her pink bow on the way and dropped it in her tea.

"Mr. Enjolras, close the door!" Umbridge yelled. "Don't let them get in the school."

"But Professor, I don't feel _safe _with the door closed," Enjolras said innocently as two pixies flew past him.

Umbridge was so confused that she forgot to give him detention. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the pixies noticed the students and started to attack them. Enjolras and the rest of Les Amis just kept the pixies from hurting people, but they enjoyed watching Umbridge trying to deal with the little blue devils. She managed to Stun two of them, but her efforts gave Combeferre enough time to sneak in her office and get rid of the cage.

After about half an hour, when Umbridge got her classroom and office under control and was ready to start the lesson, some Slytherin kid came running to tell her that another six pixies are slowly destroying the Ancient Runes Classroom. The professor mumbled something unintelligible and ran off. The rest of the morning passed like this – Umbridge jogging from classroom to classroom, hair disheveled, a slightly deranged look in her eyes, hunting pixies.

She managed to catch them all before lunch, even though it cost her her new cardigan. Everybody knew that Les Amis were somehow responsible, but there was no proof. When the last cage, hidden in the Great Hall, opened in the middle of lunch, the students actually started to cheer.

"We really should get vampires next," Azelma muttered.

"Shut up, sis," Éponine told her.

"Or Nifflers," Grantaire added.

"I vote for a dragon," said Bahorel. "A nice Chinese Fireball or Hebridean Black would give her something to do for more than just one morning. I mean, who chose pixies?"

"You know, why don't you take charge of the plan next time?" Éponine put down her fork. "I would like to see _you _buying forty pixies on the black market and smuggling them in Hogwarts."

"Yeah, and you can try putting them in a cage," Combeferre rubbed his arm. "Those things _bite_."

"C'mon, those are _pixies_. How bad can they be?"

Combeferre used a Summoning Spell on the nearest pixie and he stuffed it down Bahorel's shirt.

* * *

The first Hogsmeade trip of the year started as a perfectly normal day. Marius disappeared with Cosette and Courfeyrac and Jehan both had dates as well. Musichetta grabbed Joly and Bossuet and dragged them towards Madam Pudifoot's Tea Shop. Grantaire muttered something about Bossuet really being the unluckiest guy he knows, and headed to the Hog's Head, accompanied by Bahorel and Azelma. Éponine gave them a disapproving look, but she couldn't stop Azelma if she tried.

That left Enjolras, Combeferre, Feuilly, and Éponine standing together in the middle of the village.

"Three Broomsticks?" Enjolras asked.

"Three Broomsticks," Feuilly nodded.

They had a couple of Butterbeers, before Combeferre remembered that he needed new quills, so they ended up in Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. Enjolras and Feuilly seemed to enjoy it, but Éponine was seriously worried that this was going to turn into the most boring visit of Hogsmeade anyone had ever had. She at least made them promise they would go to Honeydukes with her later.

When they emerged from the quill shop, with all three boys carrying large paper bags full of quills, parchments, and ink, Enjolras noticed three people in black cloaks with their hoods pulled up, but he didn't pay them any attention.

"I need to buy Courf some Chocolate Cauldrons," Éponine mused. "Without him I'd be flunking Herbology already. And do you think Joly would like some Toothflossing Stringmints? I still have to thank him for the Potions tutoring during summer..."

She was interrupted by a voice yelling: "_Confringo_!"

Enjolras reacted instinctively. He reached for Éponine, who was the closest person at the moment, and pulled her down just before the explosion could knock them off their feet. Feuilly also had the presence of mind to duck, but Combeferre was blasted a few feet back, where he collapsed on the ground. Enjolras' first thought was to check if his friend was all right, but he forced himself to look towards the place of the explosion.

The people in black cloaks were facing him now and he could see the masks. _Death Eaters, _he thought. He cast a Shield Charm and looked around desperately for cover. The closest house had no shop, but there was a small alleyway next to it. One of the Death Eaters was slowly walking towards them.

"_Protego_!" Éponine shouted, but some of the purple light she was trying to deflect still got through. She flinched and her left hand flew to her chest. "Oh," she whispered when she looked at her palm and saw blood. Enjolras caught her just before she could fall.

"Éponine, do you hear me?" he asked, before he cast another Shield Charm.

"Yes, I am injured, not deaf, thank you very much," she snarled and tried to Disarm the Death Eater coming in their direction. "I'm fine, I can stand, Enjolras."

But when he tried to let her go, she staggered again.

"_Protego Maxima!_" Enjolras shouted, but the effect was very weak. He had tried the spell only once before, in a safe sunlit classroom. "Look behind me, did Feuilly get Ferre to safety?"

"Almost," Éponine informed him. "They are in the alleyway on the left."

"Good. Move!" he nudged her gently, only to hear a hiss of pain in response.

Enjolras felt powerless and he hated it. There was only one enemy and the two of them were barely able to hold their ground. Feuilly was helping them from his place, but Éponine was injured and Enjolras had no idea how bad it was. He was also terrified, but he had no time to consider that. He could pee his pants later.

Suddenly a pile of wood that was neatly stacked next to one of the houses rose in the air and landed between them and the Death Eater. Enjolras felt one of the curses brush his arm and his sleeve caught fire. He put it out just in time to see another pile of wood land in the middle of the street.

Éponine was now leaning heavily on him. "Fire," she whispered. "I can't..."

Enjolras was confused for a second, but then it dawned on him. "_Incendio_," he whispered.

The wood caught on fire and the flames created a wall that protected them from the Death Eater.

Enjolras didn't wait. He dragged Éponine, who was on the verge of passing out, to the alleyway. They both collapsed on the ground and he faintly heard Feuilly churning out protective spells. Everything seemed gray and every sound was very distant. He felt his wand slipping out of his hand. The darkness was welcoming him home.

Until someone slapped him. "Hey, Apollo, stay with us!"

Enjolras blinked and saw Combeferre crouching in front of him.

"You are alive, Ferre," he muttered.

"Yes and I need you not to pass out just yet. We're not out of this. Go help Feuilly."

"No, no, it's us!" someone shouted at the other end of the alleyway. Enjolras looked that way and he saw that Feuilly almost cursed Bahorel, Grantaire, and Azelma.

"Get in," Feuilly urged them and sealed the entrance after them.

The Death Eater obviously got through the fire and was now attacking Feuilly's shield. Enjolras tried to strengthen it a little, but he was exhausted.

"Ponine!" Azelma shrieked.

"She is alive, she's just unconscious," Comebeferre said. "You haven't seen Joly, have you? He is so much better at this..."

"I don't care, just do something! Help her!"

Azelma's hysteria made Enjolras come to his senses. He turned around.

"_You_ do something. Help me out here. Bahorel, keep him busy. Azelma, help me set up the barrier. Grantaire, go help Feuilly to the back," he commanded. There was a strange urgency to his voice that made everybody shut up and move.

"What about me?" Combeferre asked.

"Do your best for Éponine," Enjolras replied. "And be ready to switch places with someone. _Salvio Hexia_!"

A jet of green light missed Bahorel by inches. They didn't need to hear the incantation to recognize the Killing Curse.

"Crap!" Bahorel yelled and shot another curse at the determined Death Eater.

"We can't stay here. Feuilly, R, make a way out!" Enjolras shouted. "Ferre, get ready to carry Éponine. Azelma, help him." At least he could get the youngest of Les Amis away from the first line.

The street on the other side of the alleyway was relatively empty. They were backing out slowly and Enjolras and Bahorel were casting new protective spells every few steps. Fortunately the Death Eater didn't follow them, perhaps he went off to find an easier prey. They found a shelter in the post office, where about a dozen other people crouched on the floor, too scared to do anything else.

"How does it look out there?" Enjolras asked Bahorel, Azelma, and Grantaire.

"The Main Street is a mayhem. I have no idea how many Death Eaters are there, but people are panicking and that is bad enough by itself. From where we are, I _think _we should be able to get to Hogwarts, but it's risky," Bahorel said.

"There are still people out there..." Grantaire breathed. "They're going to get massacred."

Enjolras thought for a moment. He remembered how powerless he felt in the duel and he knew that without Éponine he would have been dead already. He was no match for a Death Eater. But Grantaire was right. There were children outside and not all of them were as skilled and resourceful as the fourth-year Azelma.

"Do it," he told Feuilly. "Get them to Hogwarts, you'll be safe there. I'll try to help as many people as I can."

"You'll get killed, if you go alone," Combeferre said calmly.

"You can stay," Enjolras told him. "R, you too, if you want. No, Feuilly, you're tired, and I need someone to coordinate this bunch," he gestured to people hiding with them. "Azelma, Bahorel, you go too. I need someone to take care of Éponine. No arguing," he stopped Azelma, who was already opening her mouth. "You know what to do. Grantaire, are you coming or are you going to help Feuilly?"

Grantaire clutched his wand tighter and said: "I'm going with you."

"Good. Before you go, send an owl to Dumbledore," Enjolras told Feuilly. Then he, Combeferre, and Grantaire moved to the door.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Not in a million years," Grantaire muttered.

Enjolras opened the door.


	5. Les Amis Are Afraid

**So, the next chapter, in which we finish the Hogsmeade fight and deal with the immediate consequences. Enjolras shows unexpected weakness and Joly shows that he'll be an excellent Healer one day.**

**Please, review, tell me what you think. This is another dark chapter, but it will get (slightly) better.**

* * *

**5. Les Amis Are Afraid**

First they encountered a group of Ravenclaws from third and fourth year. They sent them to the post office to join Feuilly's group. Then ran about a small woodshed behind one of the houses when Enjolras heard his name. He turned around to see Courfeyrac waving at him.

They found Courfeyrac, Marius, Cosette, and Courfeyrac's date, who was called Martha. They all seemed relatively unharmed. Cosette was crying and Martha wasn't responding when someone talked to her.

"How are the others? Jehan went to find Joly, Bossuet, and Chetta, but we haven't seen Azelma or Bahorel..."

"We have. They are fine, but Éponine is hurt," said Enjolras.

"How bad?" asked Marius.

_Great, Pontmercy, now you care, _Enjolras thought bitterly.

"I don't know, I have no idea what hit her, but she was bleeding a lot. If they don't get her to Madam Pomfrey in time..." Enjolras couldn't say anything more. The possibility of losing her was too much to handle right now. He felt Combeferre's hand on his shoulder.

"What's our next move?"

Enjolras had never been more grateful to Combeferre. Turning his attention to the present matters was exactly what he needed.

"We need to get Cosette and Martha to safety. Marius, do you think you can handle it? Good, thank you. Try taking the route around the post office, you might catch up with Feuilly there. Now, I reckon we should try Main Street. It's going to be the worst. Fine, let's go."

It turned out that they were not needed there after all. By the time they reached Main Street, the Hogwarts teachers who happened to be in Hogsmeade had already taken control of the situation. The Death Eaters were subdued, but there was still a lot of work to do – taking care of the wounded, finding and organizing the survivors, putting out fires...

They found Joly treating the less serious wounds, with Musichetta and Bossuet helping him. Apparently the three of them survived the attack by hiding in the Shrieking Shack. They didn't meet Jehan, but he was found later Stunned under a pile of Liquorice Wands in Honeydukes. He had suffered some minor injuries, and smelled of liquorice, but otherwise he was fine.

Soon the Healers and the Aurors arrived and the students could go back to Hogwarts. It was on the way back that Joly notices Enjolras' torn sleeve and burned arm.

"Yeah, I got that trying to get Éponine out... But you should probably check Ferre as well, he had been knocked out. And Feuilly, he's got to be exhausted. And Bahorel, he's been missed by..."

Suddenly he realized that they were all staring at him. He touched his cheek and discovered it was wet. He looked at his fingers, but it wasn't blood. It had to be tears. He was crying? No way, he never cried...

He wiped his cheeks to get rid of the evidence and straightened his back.

"Let's see how is Éponine doing," he said and lead the way to the castle.

* * *

"Mr. Enjolras, I need you!" Madam Pomfrey caught him when he entered the Hospital Wing. "I've been told that you saw what happened to Miss Thénardier."

"How is she?" Enjolras asked.

"Getting worse, unless you tell me exactly what hit her."

"I don't know, some kind of purple light. I didn't hear the incantation."

Madam Pomfrey bit her lip. "This shouldn't be possible," she muttered to herself. "If it was... she should be dead by now..."

"She used a Shield Charm," Enjolras tried to help.

"Yes, that's why she didn't drop dead at the spot. But..."

"And my Shield Charm was probably still up as well," Enjolras remembered. "Maybe Feuilly's too."

"Three Shield Charms? Now, that's better. Thank you, Mr. Enjolras," she said and hurried off.

They found the rest of Les Amis in the crowd in front of the Hospital Wing. Courfeyrac's girlfriend Martha was much better now and she was nibbling a piece of chocolate. Cosette seemed mostly fine. Azelma was curled up in Bahorel's arms. Joly, who had been Madam Pomfrey's most and least favorite patient at the same time, went in to help her. He emerged half an hour later.

"I have seen Éponine," he told them.

"And? Is she...?" Azelma's voice broke and Bahorel pulled her closer to him.

"She is... she is not getting worse at the moment, but Madam Pomfrey says that she should have gotten help earlier. She survived only because Enjolras and Feuilly had their Shield Charms still up and because of what Ferre did for her. We are still fighting..."

"Fight harder!" Azelma growled.

"Mr. Joly!"

"Sorry, I have to go," Joly turned to go back in the Hospital Wing, but Enjolras caught his arm and leaned to whisper in his ear:

"Is she going to make it?"

"I don't know," Joly whispered back and disappeared.

Enjolras wanted nothing more than run back to Gryffindor Tower, close the curtains around his bed, and cry himself to sleep. It was his fault, he should have thought of this, he should have tried to get Éponine out sooner... He wanted to run as far as he could, but he didn't move. There was no way he was leaving Éponine, while she was still fighting.

"Courf," he said quietly. "Go tell Gavroche before he hears from someone else."

It was the longest day in Enjolras' life. Courfeyrac led his girlfriend to the Common Room and brought Gavroche back with him. The boy was scared, but he acted brave. Les Amis watched people getting released from the Hospital Wing and a few Healers from St. Mungo's rushing in. It was well after dinner when Joly told them they could come in. They decided to split in two groups to disturb the patients as little as possible. The first group, consisting of Azelma, Gavroche, Enjolras, Bahorel, Marius, and Cosette followed Joly.

Éponine lay on the bed by the window. She was pale and tiny under the hospital sheet, but she was breathing.

"The Healers did amazing work," Joly told them. "If she lasts till morning, she'll be all right."

"You mean you still don't know?" Azelma looked up, tears streaming down her face.

"We still don't know for sure what hit her. She is at least still fighting. Others weren't so lucky... Ian Summerby from Hufflepuff didn't make it..." With this Joly burst into tears. Cosette rushed to hug him and she led him outside, probably to let Musichetta take care of him.

Enjolras turned back to Éponine. _You saved my life. You are going to make it. I am your leader, dammit, and I did not give you the permission to leave. Just stay with me, Thénardier, and I promise you will not regret it._

* * *

Nobody in Gryffindor Tower slept that night. First- and second-years were terrified, even though they weren't actually there, and practically everybody knew someone who was at least injured. Four students were dead and a few others were still critical. Quite a lot, considering there were only six Death Eaters.

Les Amis all rushed to the Hospital Wing first thing in the morning. They arrived practically at the same time, Azelma with hair still tousled from the uneasy sleep, Jehan looking like he didn't sleep for a minute, Grantaire with a first-class hangover, and most of them bearing marks of various degrees of exhaustion. Only Enjolras looked fresh and ready for another day, but only at first glance. On the second glance they saw the dark circles under his eyes, drops of inks on his bandage, slightly loosened tie, and the way he was clutching his book so hard his knuckles whitened.

"I'll go and see first, okay?" Joly insisted. "Wait a moment."

Not a minute later he appeared with a small smile and gestured them inside. Éponine was on her bed by the window, a Healer in the chair next to her was sleeping, but Éponine herself was awake.

"Hi, guys," she smiled weakly.

Azelma squealed with delight, only to be smacked by Musichetta. That woke up the Healer, who at least put up a screen between Éponine's bed and the rest of the Hospital Wing before leaving Les Amis to welcome their friend back in the lands of living.

"How are you?" was naturally the first question.

"Alive, to list the pros," Éponine said. "Otherwise, like I have been run over by a train."

"Actually, I think that might be from when R stepped on you," Joly teased.

"Even if I did, how would you know? You were hiding in the Shrieking Shack at the time," Grantaire replied.

"I was protecting Chetta," Joly fumed. "And Bossuet."

"Hey, don't drag _me _into this," Bossuet protested.

Enjolras cleared his throat to end the bickering and turned back to Éponine: "You scared us."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Do you know what happened to me? I remember a Death Eater... No, that can't be right..." she frowned

All heads turned to Enjolras. Part of being a leader of their little group was delivering the news nobody else wanted to deliver. He sighed, sat on the edge of her bed, and begun. He didn't go into details about the deaths and injuries, he said just enough to give her a general picture.

"Did anyone tell you anything about the attack?" Éponine asked.

"Just that all the Death Eaters were caught and we're safe," Courfeyrac said.

Éponine tried to shift into a more comfortable position, but she hissed in pain and gave up. "Safe my ass," she muttered.

"We think that they'll tell us at breakfast today," Gavroche added, obviously proud to count himself in Les Amis. "I guess you aren't coming yet, are you?" he asked with a small hope that his sister might be well enough to actually go with them.

"Sorry, Roche, give it a few days. Right now I think I need to take a nap. Make sure you remember everything so you can tell me later," she told him.

"Fine, that's it, people, time for breakfast," Enjolras stood up. "Éponine needs to sleep. We're still stuck with her, so you will see her again."

"Thank you, Enjolras, you're so sweet. Will you marry me?" Éponine grimaced.

"Oh, she is sarcastic now," Enjolras sighed. "She's definitely going to live. Come on, let's go."


	6. Les Amis Can't Believe Their Eyes

**This one starts in the dark mood set by previous chapters, but it gets better. Get ready for a lesson about bees, Umbridge nastiness, Éponine's wisdom, a glimpse of Grantaire's secret fantasies, a Weasley cameo, and a little bit of Gryffindor spirit, love and Quidditch.**

**Thank you, all of you who reviewed, you are very nice to me.**

**Please, review, I want to hear your reactions :-)**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**6. Les Amis Can't Believe Their Eyes**

They say that if you press your ear to the side of a hive, you can hear the mood of the bees inside. They say that bee-keepers can tell by the sound of the buzzing if the bees are happy, upset, or hungry. Enjolras knew next to nothing about bees, but he knew a lot about Hogwarts and when he stepped into the Great Hall that morning, he heard that the usual buzz had changed. The bees were upset and angry.

His first instinct was to reach for his wand. He saw Courfeyrac tense and Jehan look around. They all looked around to find the cause of the anger and they spotted it almost right away. It was dressed in pink, looked like a toad, and sat in Dumbledore's chair.

"Feuilly?" Grantaire asked quietly.

"Yes?"

"Tell me, how much did I drink today?"

"It's not a hallucination. We can see it too," Feuilly replied.

"Not enough, then," Grantaire concluded.

Enjolras sat down at Gryffindor table next to Martha, Courfeyrac's girlfriend. "What is going on?" he asked.

"Nobody told us anything, but Jessica said she saw them taking Dumbledore away in the middle of the night," Martha muttered.

"Who?" Enjolras asked, but he was interrupted by loud and very familiar _hem hem_.

"Mr. Pontmercy, please, sit at Gryffindor table," Umbridge admonished Marius, who went to eat his breakfast with Cosette. "As you might have noticed, Albus Dumbledore is not present today. He had been charged with several offenses, including serious neglect of safety precautions, and until these accusations are properly investigated, he can't occupy the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts. The Ministry saw it fit to appoint me to act as a Temporary Headmistress for the time being.

I know we are all very scared by the events of yesterday's Hogsmeade trip, but there is no need to worry. The culprits were caught and the school is safe again. Still, we have to take some steps to make sure this doesn't happen again. The trips to Hogsmeade are canceled until further notice. Every class that takes place outside the castle will be supervised by a qualified Ministry worker, as well as every free-time activity that requires students to leave the castle, is not supervised by a teacher, or can be considered dangerous. Leader of every free-time activity will hand me a detailed plan of all the sessions they want to have this year. The activities can not continue until the leaders receive my approval and permission.

Please, keep in mind that all these steps, however radical they might seem, are for your own safety."

After she finished, the Great Hall looked like somebody cast Petrificus Totalus on every student. They could hear Umbridge's clothes rustle as she sat down.

The bees were speechless.

* * *

The next morning Enjolras borrowed a box of Chocolate Frogs from Courfeyrac's giant stash of candy and headed to the Hospital Wing. They agreed to take turns in visiting Éponine so they don't flood the Hospital Wing every day. Nobody was visiting her so early and she seemed much better than the day before.

"Azelma, Bahorel, Marius, and Gavroche were all here yesterday," she said after he sat down. "They told me about Umbridge."

"Horrible, right?" he said and gave her the box.

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"What _can _we do? If she could get rid of Dumbledore, it would take her about five seconds to expel us. A bunch of students is hardly a threat to her. I _could _try to kill her, but I am not that good with Unforgivable Curses yet... Maybe I could throw her down from the Astronomy Tower..."

Éponine offered him a Chocolate Frog, but she was still too sick to take one herself. "You are doing it again," she murmured.

"Doing what?"

"What do you have?" she looked at his Chocolate Frog card. "Oh good, you have Eleanor Cobham! Can I take it?"

"Don't change the topic. What am I doing again?" he pressed.

"It's like the pixies all over again. When it matters, you think you have to do it all by yourself. Why do you even have us then? Every one of Les Amis will help you, all you have to do is ask."

"What do you want me to do, then? Tie Umbridge to a Portkey headed for Australia?" Enjolras snapped.

Éponine rolled her eyes. "Nothing with Umbridge this time. Something much more important. I have had some time to think and I am almost sure that we would have done much better if we weren't out of practice. Honestly, when was the last time you actually tried a protective spell? If we don't practice, this can happen again," she glanced at the Hospital Wing, which still had about twice as much patients as usual. "Please, figure it out."

"Oh great, so you have an idea and I'm supposed to make it happen? You're quite a charmer, Éponine," he snarled.

"Once I can stand on my own two feet without bleeding all over the floor, I'll be more than happy to help you," she snapped. "Besides, they will listen to you in a way they wouldn't listen to anyone else. And I'm not just talking about Les Amis, I'm talking about every Hogwarts kid who wants to learn."

"You really think they would listen to me?"

"Start talking and you'll see."

* * *

"So what do you think?" Enjolras asked, looking at his friends. He was nervous, but he refused to show it. He had faced Death Eaters, he wasn't going to let a simple proposal to his friends get the best of him.

"You're mad as a hatter," said Combeferre.

"The idea is strangely appealing," Feuilly said slowly, "but it's completely crazy."

"Thanks. It's Éponine's."

There was a moment of silence. _They are not going to do it, _Enjolras thought. _So much for people listening to me, Éponine. _He wished she had been there with him. That way at least one person would have been on his side. Enjolras had never felt so alone among Les Amis.

"Hell yeah!" Bahorel shouted suddenly, making a couple of people spill their Butterbeers (and one Firewhiskey). "Let's go! That's going to be awesome!"

"I wouldn't put it in such a crude manner, but I agree," Jehan said quietly. "We should do this."

"We're all going to get expelled and we're not going to achieve anything," Grantaire muttered.

"But we don't really matter, do we?" Courfeyrac said. "It's symbolic, standing against oppression..."

"I was thinking more like finding our way around the oppression," Enjolras chimed in.

"Still, we should do it. We need it," said Marius.

Musichetta hugged her two boys and nodded at Enjolras. "Count us in, Apollo."

Enjolras turned to Combeferre and Feuilly. If those two said no, he could simply pack up and go home. He needed all of Les Amis to pull this one off.

Feuilly pinched the bridge of his nose, sighed, and closed his eyes. "Yes, I will help you," he said finally.

"Ferre?"

"Well, you need some brains for this operation, don't you? I can't let you hurt yourselves. R, can I have some of that?" Combeferre asked for Grantiare's ever-present Firewhiskey.

"Oh look how the mighty has fallen," Grantaire teased as he passed him the flask.

"Shut up."

"Maybe we can get Enjolras to drink next..."

"Shut up, R!"

"Hey, Bahorel, do you think we can make Enjolras dance on the table dressed only in Gryffindor flag?"

"_Silencio_!"

* * *

"Wait until I'm on the team," Gavroche bragged on the way to the Quidditch pitch. "We're going to kick Slytherin ass!"

"Gavroche!" Enjolras and Combeferre exclaimed in unison.

"Honestly, if Éponine hears you talk like that, she's going to use Langlock Jinx on you," Jehan warned the little boy.

Gavroche ignored them and turned to his friend Bill. "I'm going to try out for the team next year. I wanted to do it this year, but Ponine found my broomstick..."

"Good thing she did," Enjolras said. "You're such a hyper, you would only hurt yourself."

"Like you only do safe stuff," Gavroche sniffed.

Enjolras tensed and he saw Combeferre frown. Did Gavroche know anything about their budding plan? They had talked to a couple of people from the last sixth and seventh year, but they said nothing specific.

"What do you mean?" Marius asked casually.

"There are whispers all over the school," said the least expected person to speak up – Cosette. "They expect you to do something about Umbridge. They know you were responsible for the pixie incident and they want you to do more this time. They are sure you won't let it go."

"The thing is, we have to let it go," Combeferre sighed convincingly. Even though Cosette was not a part of the original plan, they were sure Marius told her something. It was Gavroche they had to keep the secret from. The boy would let something slip sooner or later. "We all want to finish our NEWTs, you know, and it wouldn't do if we got expelled a few months before we got the chance."

"Well, that's understandable," Cosette smiled sweetly. "How is Éponine anyway?"

"She's doing great," Enjolras said. He had been at the Hospital Wing every day of the last two weeks, bringing Éponine fresh news and listening to her useful tips about their plans. "She's walking again and Madam Pomfrey will probably let her go next week."

"It's a pity she couldn't go with us today. She wanted to see Azelma play," Joly helped to change the subject to a safer topic.

The first match of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin was meant to take the students' mind off the attack. It was a big event for Les Amis as Azelma was playing as the Seeker for the first time. Enjolras felt almost brotherly pride when he saw her in her scarlet robe. Bahorel, who had been in the team the year before, poked her with his Beater's bat and whispered something that made Azelma giggle. The team captain, Adelaide Moran, shot a disapproving look in their direction before shaking hands with the Slytherin captain, and the match begun.

Enjolras had never been much of a sports fan, but he was a true Gryffindor, so he cheered with the others and conjured red and gold sparks from his wand every time they scored. It was a pity Éponine couldn't come, she was much more enthusiastic about Quidditch than he was. After about an hour of the match Azelma darted forward, leading the Slytherin Seeker Bletchley to the other end of the pitch, where she suddenly stopped dead. Bletchley shot past her and almost collided with one of the tribunes. Meanwhile Azelma dropped twenty feet and caught the Snitch.

It was the first time since the Hogsmeade attack that Enjolras felt genuinely happy, not just relieved or okay. Jehan waved his wand and played _La Marseillaise_ in Azelma's honor. Courfeyrac hoisted Gavroche on his shoulders and ran to the pitch, while the boy screamed like a banshee. Marius was doing a happy dance with Cosette. Grantaire was celebrating by a drink.

And down on the pitch Bahorel embraced Azelma and kissed her until they both got detention.


	7. Les Amis Are Complete Again

**Sorry for the enormous hiatus, I was writing my bachelor's thesis and I was busy. I hope some of you will still read this. Anyway, in this chapter, Éponine is let out of the hospital wing and we see how their little Fight Club starts. Please review and let me know your opinion. I promise I'll try to update more often now.**

* * *

**7. Les Amis Are Complete Again**

"You will come here every morning before breakfast and every evening after dinner, so I can check you. You know which potions to take and you know your exercise. If I find out you're slacking – and I always find out – I will lock you up in St. Mungo's. Understood?" Madam Pomfrey was eying Éponine sceptically.

"Yes, ma'am."

"And no magic for the rest of the week, you don't want to open your wounds again."

"No, ma'am."

"If you don't feel well, come straight here, don't try to walk it off."

"I'll be here with every headache, I promise. Can I go now?"

Enjolras glanced at Azelma, who was holding a bag with all sweets and get-well cards Éponine got. She was Bahorel-free today as nobody had the courage to tell Éponine about those two. Azelma grinned at him and he smiled back.

"Fine, go, but I want to see you after dinner."

Éponine moved with a speed and agility unexpected in somebody who had almost died two weeks ago. Enjolras and Azelma followed her out.

The day went on as usual. At lunch all Amis flocked around Éponine, excited to have her back, and not even Umbridge could make them sit at their respective tables. But the real fun started when Éponine got to Gryffindor Tower after her evening appointment with Madam Pomfrey.

When she climbed through the portrait hole, she thought that something had exploded in the Common Room. There were French flags everywhere, there was a huge banner that read WELCOME BACK ÉPONINE, the tables were overflowing with food, and in front of all of that stood Les Amis along with half of Gryffindor House.

"What? How?" she asked. "Joly? Bossuet? What are _you _doing here? You're not even in Gryffindor." Her voice broke and Enjolras could see the tears in her eyes.

It took them almost all afternoon of sneaking and hiding to get four Ravenclaw Amis and three Hufflepuffs plus Cosette behind the Fat Lady. It wasn't exactly against the rules, but Enjolras was sure that Umbridge wouldn't like it.

"Here, have a Sugar Quill," Courfeyrac offered.

"Here, have a drink," Grantaire pulled out his flask.

"Thanks, Courf. Sorry, R, I can't drink yet. Hi, Marius, I haven't seen you for a while," she smiled.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Cosette needed some help with her OWL preparations, I was busy. But you should have seen her Potions skills, she's a natural. Plus, it's fun to study with her, she's so witty..."

Éponine looked like she was hit with another curse. Marius could have been an oblivious insensitive idiot, but the rest of Les Amis came to Éponine's aid like an army of knights in school robes.

"All right, people, give her some space before she passes out," Enjolras led Éponine to her favorite armchair.

"Honestly, there's no air here, you lot smell like a den of trolls. I bet the Gryffindor lion is just a skunk in disguise," Grantaire added. This remark resulted in a brawl that was quickly ended by Combeferre, Feuilly, and Bossuet, and followed by Joly's lecture on the harmful effects of stale air.

Enjolras noticed Courfeyrac pulling a colorful bag from his pocket.

"Here, have a Bertie Bott's Bean," he offered Marius.

Enjolras knew this special bag. He was one of the very few people that did. Courfeyrac kept all the bogey-, ear-wax-, and mud-flavored Bertie Bott's Beans in there just in case. When he saw Marius grimace in disgust and spit the candy out, he felt a twinge of satisfaction.

The party was going great, Éponine was having fun, and that made Enjolras much happier than he would have thought.

"Oh great," Azelma looked at the clock. "I have to go, sorry, Ponine."

"Where are you going?" Éponine frowned.

"I have detention," Azelma said and stuffed a handful of Pumpkin Pasties in her pocket.

"Umbridge giving you hard time again?"

"No, this one was McGonnagal," Azelma confessed.

"Why did McGonnagal give you detention?"

Azelma looked at Enjolras, silently pleading for help, but he shook his head. He wasn't going to miss this and he saw Musichetta, Courfeyrac and Jehan already pricking up their ears to hear every word.

"You know, after the Quidditch match... Me and Jules... I mean Bahorel... We kinda..." she mumbled the rest of the sentence so quietly nobody could hear, yet somehow even more people were eavesdropping on them.

"You did what?" Éponine's voice was low and menacing. Les Amis were not even pretending they weren't listening any more.

"Remember, Éponine, no magic," Joly said quickly.

"And I think punching people in the face is off the table as well," Combeferre added.

"Besides, Bahorel would beat you," Bossuet reminded her.

"Pff, _I _can beat her whenever I want," Azelma smirked.

"Then why don't you tell me what happened?"

"We... we kissed... a little," Azelma scratched her head. "I mean, I really have to go, I can't be late."

"Wait a moment, you kissed _a little _and you got detention for that?" Éponine narrowed her eyes.

"Maybe more than a little..."

"Are you kidding?" Courfeyrac finally joined the conversation. "I swear you went without oxygen for five minutes! It was crazy, they looked like they were hit by a Permanent Sticking Charm."

Azelma was a Gryffindor flag shade of red. "Have to go, sorry," she whispered, ducked under Bahorel's arm, and disappeared from the Common Room.

Éponine turned to Bahorel. He paled a little but he stared back at her.

"You know she can kick your butt all the way to Paris, right?" she said. "And you really want to be with her?"

Bahorel nodded.

"Just making sure. So you really got a detention for a kiss?"

"They should have got an award for it," Courfeyrac answered.

Éponine threw her head back and laughed so hard that she got hiccups and her wound started to hurt. Joly fixed it for her, but she was giggling for the rest of the evening. Her good mood was contagious and intoxicating and before he realized what he was doing, Enjolras took a cup of pumpkin juice from Grantaire and knocked it back without a second thought. Too late he found out that it was spiked with Firewhiskey.

After that it was all a blur. He remembered (and was reminded by a couple of excellent photographs) that Grantaire did make him dance on the table after all, but he didn't win his bet with Joly, because Enjolras did it fully dressed. On the other hand, every person who had been at the party had to swear to Enjolras that they were never going to mention Courfeyrac's special bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans again.

Luckily house elves were used to tidying all kinds of mess and nobody was using the fireplace anyway.

* * *

"We were kind of waiting for you," Enjolras told Éponine while they were walking to the third floor. "It was your idea after all."

"Here?" she raised her eyebrows when he opened the door to the abandoned corridor on third floor. "Really? Somebody will see the light through the door."

"Bossuet found something. Believe it or not, the guy got lucky after all. Come on, walk to the back."

Bossuet was guarding his secret, grinning widely. Joly and Musichetta were keeping him company.

"A trap door?" Éponine smiled. "That's brilliant. What's down there?"

"Just more empty dungeon, but we tweaked it a little bit," said Musichetta.

"How many are there?" Enjolras asked her.

"Fifteen, every person we talked to," she replied. "They're waiting for you."

There was a rope ladder ready for them and Enjolras helped Éponine climb down. It was quite a long climb and at the end Éponine needed to sit down for a minute before she could go on. They walked down a long, bare corridor, through two huge chambers to a smaller one.

The chamber was really upgraded. It was almost cozy. There was a carpet on the floor, torches and tapestries on the walls, a small hearth with crackling blue flames, and people. Les Amis handpicked fifteen members of the Defense Club from the oldest Hogwarts students and called them for the first meeting. Enjolras also insisted on only a few Amis attending. There was him and Éponine, Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Feuilly, and Marius. The rest was patrolling the corridors, ready to send them a message if something went wrong.

"Did they sign?" Enjolras asked Combeferre, who nodded. "Good. So, you are all aware that if our temporary Headmistress finds out, we're all expelled before you can say ugly pink toad. If you turn us in in exchange for escaping punishment, I will find you and I will curse you into a giant slug. Unless one of them," he pointed to Les Amis around him, "finds you first and turns you into his animal of preference.

Just so we are all clear. Any questions. No? Good.

We are here to learn practical defensive spells. We decided to take a different approach from the one taken by the Ministry. I'm sure you all know what we offer. So quills away, wands out, please, and make pairs, so we can start right away."

They started with the basics, _Expelliarmus, Protego, _some minor protective spells. Thanks to the Defense Club they were all rather good. Enjolras already planned some advanced jinxes they learned last year, and maybe some basics of protecting objects. They will all want their homes as safe as possible...

By the end of the lesson, one of the students, Deborah Atwell from Hufflepuff, raised her hand.

"What was it like? Fighting Death Eaters?"

"It was a blast," Éponine muttered darkly.

Enjolras shot her a disapproving look. "It was terrifying. The one we met... he was powerful. It took three of us to make a barrier strong enough to make him go away. You feel..."

"Helpless," Combeferre completed his sentence. "You can't fight the bad guy, you don't know where to run, you can't save your friends."

"Jehan told me," Courfeyrac said slowly, "that every time a Death Eater cast a spell, he felt like God was flipping a coin to decide if he should let him live or die. And being Jehan, he expressed the feeling just right."

"So we can't get ready," Deborah said. "Not really."

"No. But there's a chance that you will remember and use a spell and it will save your life. Now, you can't remember something you never knew, right? So – same time, same place, next week?" Enjolras asked.


	8. Les Amis Lose

**Another chapter. Is anyone still reading this?**

**The stakes rise higher, as Enjolras and Éponine's relationship reach a crucial point and Enjolras makes an important decision. After this, only two more chapters to go!**

* * *

**8. Les Amis Lose**

The Howlers arrived a week before Christmas. When Combeferre, Enjolras, Courfeyrac, Marius, and Joly all got identical red envelopes one morning, they all knew something was wrong.

"Go!" yelled Azelma. "Go, go, go, go!"

They all sprinted out of the Great Hall, followed by laughter of other students. In the Entrance Hall they split up. Enjolras turned right and jogged down the corridor, as far as he could before the letter started smoking. Then he stopped and ripped it open.

"_Good morning, son."_

His fathers voice was calm and collected, but Enjolras knew, that his father rarely raised his voice.

"_We got the most interesting letter from your Headmistress, Professor Umbridge. She suspects that you are involved in some potentially dangerous underground organization. Furthermore she suggested that you might be one of the leaders of said organization. This, what you apparently call a "study group", is supposed to be learning combat spells. She supports her claim with evidence you apparently provided her with when you fought some of the most dangerous Death Eaters and were not pulverized."_

"_Tell him to come home at once! He can study in Beauxbatons!" _His mother cut in, slightly hysterical as usual.

"_Calm down, Mathilda. Sebastien, I want you to be honest with me and tell me whether you are involved in such activities. I know that I can trust your word. If you were indeed breaking the school rules and maybe even law, we would be forced to take you home. Please, answer as soon as possible."_

The letter burst into flames, but Enjolras was smiling. His father didn't become one of the most important wizard politicians in France by accident. He played the role he was expected to: a concerned father of a slightly mischievous son. If Umbridge has read the letter – and Enjolras was sure she did – she wouldn't have found anything strange. But the silent blessing was visible between the lines to anyone who knew Monsieur Enjolras, who had always been proud of his son's rebellious nature.

Enjolras went back to the Great Hall and found out that he was the first one back.

"What was in the letter?" Azelma asked the moment he sat down.

Éponine kicked her under the table. "Don't be nosy! It's private."

"Not so much. Umbridge wrote to my parents, and I assume to yours as well, that we were doing some kind of secret fight club. Father wanted to know if it's true," Enjolras shrugged and picked up the toast he didn't finish before.

"Well, our folks won't mind," said Éponine. "They don't really care what we do. Or whether we study or not. Feuilly's uncle doesn't care either. Hopefully she didn't write to Cosette's dad, I guess he would've made a fuss."

"Yeah, my mum asks for explanation as well," muttered Bahorel, who got a regular letter. "But she doesn't seem too concerned. Then again, she might not have read the whole thing." His mother was a model, who was famous for doing a series of posters where she was posing naked with only a strategically placed Cleansweep Six. She was currently spending the winter in her mansion in Morocco with her fifth husband and she was happy that her son was at Hogwarts, where she didn't have to worry about him.

Enjolras was sure that the boys who got the Howlers were going to be in the worst trouble, all of them from decent families who wanted their sons to become decent men. Jehan's parents were both artists, who adored rebellion, and the same went more or less for Grantaire. Musichetta's mother was a hardcore feminist and she would be more disappointed if her daughter backed out. And Bossuet's parents, like Éponine's, simply didn't care.

Combeferre and Marius had History of Magic with Enjolras right after breakfast and they had time to talk.

"They're angry, of course," said Combeferre, "and they don't doubt it's all true. Mother said that once Umbrdige has a shred of proof that I'm doing something illegal, they're taking me out of school. And not to Beauxbatons. If I make any more trouble, I will have to find a job."

"Grandfather said something like that, too," said Marius quietly. "And he said that if I get expelled, he won't give me any money. I would be on my own."

"I talked to Joly as well," Combeferre added. "They just urged him to think about his career and the family name, that's all."

"And I heard some of Courf's Howler," Marius remembered. "It was very patronizing. First his mother screamed her head off about what a disgrace he is, but then his father told him, that he understands the rebellious youth, he's sure Courf is not doing anything dangerous or illegal, and he wishes that this phase is going to wear off soon."

"We need to be more careful," said Enjolras.

"But we can't stop now, it's all going so well," Marius argued.

That was true. Almost every member of the old Defense Club was coming to the abandoned corridor in third floor. They divided the students into four groups and most of Les Amis worked their socks off, preparing lessons and making sure it's safe and secret.

"We won't stop, we just can't afford Umbridge to find out," said Enjolras.

* * *

None of them went home for Christmas. They made a wild party in the Gryffindor Common Room, as usual, and Enjolras was happy to see his friends relaxed again. He was careful to pour his own drinks, as Grantaire was still determined to win his bet and make him dance on the table naked, and he mostly sat in the corner and watched.

Éponine, who was fully healed now, was dancing with Grantaire in the middle of the room. She looked beautiful when she threw her head back and laughed at Jehan scowling at the old battered radio. The poet hated Celestina Warbeck and said that her lyrics were cheesy and lacking any real thought. He tried changing stations, but Courfeyrac kept bringing Celestina Warbeck back. Bahorel and Azelma cuddled in the corner. Musichetta led her two boys away in the middle of the evening, claiming that they had homework, but she didn't sound very convincing because she kept smacking Bossuet's and Joly's hands. Combeferre and Feuilly were discussing some philosophical problem in the corner. Everyone seemed happy.

Éponine plopped down in the armchair next to Enjolras, out of breath, holding her old wound, but laughing.

"Are you okay?" Enjolras asked.

"Yeah, fine. I shouldn't dance that much," she shrugged. "Where's Marius? I haven't seen him for a while."

Enjolras looked around and realized that the lover boy and Cosette were not in sight.

"They went upstairs," said Gavroche, who was sitting on the floor, playing Gobstones with his friend Bill. "I don't know what they want to do there, it's not like there's a party in your bedroom, right?"

Éponine paled and her happiness was gone. She turned away from Enjolras and he was sure that she was fighting back tears.

"Aren't you two supposed to be in bed?" Enjolras asked Gavroche and Bill. "It's pretty late, off you go."

After the boys disappeared, Enjolras turned to Éponine. "It's okay to cry," he told her. "But you should forget him. You can do better."

"Shut up, Enjolras," she snapped. "You know hippogriff crap about love and you sure as hell don't know how to comfort people."

He was deeply, irrationally hurt by her words. He had never had a girlfriend, nor he had ever wanted one, but he knew about feelings. He had his friends and he would die for any of them. His heart ached when he saw Éponine desperate. She was right, he had no idea how to talk to her, but he at least tried. She should have appreciated that.

"Fine, cry your eyes out, it won't help. He's not leaving Cosette any time soon," he growled.

Éponine looked up, her cheeks suddenly dry and eyes burning with rage. "Thanks for being such a great friend, Enjolras. Now sod off!"

"You know, if you used you head for once, you would see that you're hurting yourself over a nonsense," he remarked and turned away.

Her spell missed him by inches. He turned around, his wand ready, and cast a Shield Charm between them. Éponine was on her feet, her hair disheveled, ready to attack again. The whole Common Room was silent and watching them.

"You two," said Combeferre carefully, "put away the wands."

Éponine threw her wand on the couch and stormed towards her bedroom. Enjolras picked it up and gave it to Azelma. "She'll be looking for this in the morning," he said.

He walked up to his bedroom and too late he realized that Marius and Cosette ended up there. But he couldn't return to the Common Room so he went straight to bed, trying to ignore the closed curtains around Marius' bed and the Hufflepuff robes on the floor.

He curled up in his bed and tried to ignore the memory of Éponine's face as well.

* * *

The rest of the Christmas was weird. Les Amis did their usual, skating on the frozen lake and snowball fighting, but they were all tense. Éponine and Enjolras were not talking to each other and Éponine made a point of talking to Marius as much as she could. She was even nice and friendly to Cosette, whom she usually ignored. Enjolras refused to acknowledge her existence. For the first time Les Amis were happy when the rest of the school arrived.

Unfortunately, two dozens of Ministry people arrived as well. They were called the Security Squad and they were supervising every class, every free time activity, patrolling the corridors, and generally making the life of Les Amis much more difficult. The meetings of what they called "Defense Club No. 2" became irregular and Enjolras was more and more angry.

Another bad news was brought by Musichetta, even though it didn't seem that important at the time.

"By the way, did you know that Lorena Keegan is pregnant?" she said one day after lunch.

"Who, that Slytherin redhead?" asked Grantaire.

"Yep. It's all over the school. She might not even stay here for NEWT's, they say that Umbridge wants her expelled."

"For what? She's not the first girl to have a baby while at school and I've never heard of anyone expelled for that," said Joly.

"Remember Professor Sykes?" said Feuilly. It was their Defense Against Dark Arts teacher when Enjolras was just a first-year, a beautiful woman who became pregnant during her first month at Hogwarts. "She gave birth here and Dumbledore still didn't fire her."

"But that was Dumbledore," said Enjolras bitterly. "That's a time long gone."

He couldn't be more right. Three days later there was another Educational Decree, this time number seventeen.

_As a reaction to some complains about school's moral policy... curfew from 9 PM to 7 AM... all students in their dormitories... anyone breaking the curfew can be punished by expulsion..._

"That's it," said Jehan quietly. "We can't do the lessons any more."

"No. No," Enjolras refused to accept that. _Please, figure it out, _Éponine had asked him months ago, and he was determined to keep his promise. "We'll find a way."

"How? You know that me and Marius will be practically homeless if we are expelled. I'm not going to live under a bridge because of this," muttered Combeferre.

"It's over," Joly agreed.

Enjolras turned and walked away. Somehow he ended up on the Astronomy Tower. It was cold so he conjured blue fire that didn't need any fuel and couldn't burn down the whole school. He looked at the flickering flames and thought that he had never felt more miserable in his life.

Everything he loved about Hogwarts was being slowly taken away. The classes were boring and formal because Umbridge would fire any teacher who would dare to do something original. The Defense Club meetings were over. Les Amis were all tense and twitchy because of the conflict between him and Éponine. Because of the new curfew even the night meetings of Les Amis were over. There was nothing left for him in Hogwarts.

"There you are." Azelma appeared out of nowhere, sat next to him and stretched out her hands to catch some warmth from the fire.

"I stormed away to be alone, you know," he said.

"I'm not going to bother you long," she smiled. That was something he admired about her, the ability to keep her optimism even in the darkest of times. "It's kinda ironic, isn't it? The whole pretense for firing Dumbledore was that he couldn't handle the school, but he at least handled us without all these Educational Decrees."

"Yeah, but he's not coming back," he sighed. "There's no need for war heroes now."

Suddenly he had an idea. The memory of the talk with Éponine at the Hospital Wing, the talk with Azelma about Dumbledore, the feeling that there was nothing keeping him at Hogwarts, it all mixed in his head and an embryo of a plan emerged from those thoughts.

"Éponine has a way to get a message out of Hogwarts without it being intercepted, right? That's how she ordered those pixies," he said.

"I guess," replied Azelma. She frowned in confusion and looked at him suspiciously.

Enjolras smiled. There _was _something he could do and he was prepared to do it.

_They will listen to you in a way they wouldn't listen to anyone else_, Éponine had told him and he hoped that she was right.


	9. Les Amis Stand Up

**After this, only one last chapter + epilogue! What do you think? Enjorlas tries his best to get rid of Umbridge for good, but will it be enough? After all, what can a mere student do?**

**Please, review and tell me your thoughts.**

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**9. Les Amis Stand Up**

She raised her head when he sat next to her in the library, but when she saw his face, she returned to her book. He couldn't blame her. They haven't spoken a word to each other for a month.

"Éponine," he whispered.

"Go away," she replied.

"I'm not here to make up or apologize."

That caught her attention. "Then why on Earth are you here?" she hissed.

"I want to ask you a favor. For our old friendship's sake." He pulled a piece of parchment from his book. "Can you make sure this is sent and that Umbridge won't read it?"

She frowned and glanced up to make sure that the Security Squad member patrolling the library wasn't listening. "What are you up to?"

"Doesn't concern you," he replied shortly.

"It's the pixies all over again," she sighed. "You don't have to do it alone."

"This time I do, believe me. Can you do this for me?" He held his breath, because without her his whole plan was ruined.

She took the letter and slid it between the pages of her book.

"_Merci_."

* * *

He decided dinner was the right time for his little show. He marched in the Great Hall soon after the dinner started and headed straight to the High Table. His gaze was fixated on Umbridge, who was watching him with a happy expression. _Yes, you'll get to expel me soon, _he thought. He was determined not to look at any of the students. The only thing that could break him now would be the faces of Les Amis.

Suddenly he became aware that somebody was walking behind him. He didn't dare to turn around, but he didn't have to.

"We all hate you, y'know," whispered Combeferre to his ear.

Enjolras smiled and kept walking like nothing happened, but this time he held his head a little higher and his back was a little straighter. Even though he couldn't see them, he knew that all Les Amis walked with him. He stopped right in front of Umbridge.

"Good evening, Professor Umbridge. I wanted to talk on you on behalf of all Hogwarts students. I think the gist of my speech is this: you destroyed this school in ways we couldn't even imagine before you came here.

You claim to do all those changes for our own safety, and that's why nobody dares to say a word. Safety of children can justify anything. Except that we aren't safe. We'll never be, that's life, and if we learn to face danger here, it'll be much easier to face it in real life. But that's exactly the problem here, am I right? You don't want us to be able to face real life. You want us to be weak and dependent, unable to stand up and fight back, so you can easily keep your power."

Umbridge let him talk. Enjolras wondered how long was that going to last and the words were pouring out of him like a flood. He was the leader of Les Amis, he was Apollo, and she was just a toad. Nothing could stop him.

"But you overestimated your power, Professor. We are survivors of a war. He Who Must Not Be Named plagued us for years and we're the ones who were lucky enough to pull through. In October we fought his Death Eaters ourselves. Some of us died, but the rest is still here. And if we survived Him and his rule of terror, why should we bow to you? You're making changes we don't agree with, but your rules exist only as long as somebody plays by them. What are you going to do, if we say no?

We refuse your rules and your decrees, we refuse you. So, on behalf of Hogwarts students, I must ask you to leave this school never to return."

There was a stunned silence, exactly what Enjolras wanted. He knew this was not going to make her leave, but it could make the students think. And she couldn't stop that. He hoped that some day somebody might remember him on this night and do something that would work.

"That was a passionate speech, Mr. Enjolras," Umbridge smiled sweetly. "You're expelled."

"I'm not leaving this castle before you do."

"Security Squad," Umbridge called and a couple of Squad members stood up and walked to the High Table. "Please, escort Mr. Enjolras out of the school grounds."

He raised his wand, ready to fight, but someone caught his arm.

"Run," Marius whispered in his ear. "We've got you covered."

He turned and saw his friends. They all stood with wands ready and he couldn't be more proud of them. They were all fighters.

"Run," Éponine repeated.

And so he did, for her, only for her, he ran.

* * *

The Grand Staircase was barricaded. The pile of furniture looked just like the one they built at the beginning of the year, when everything was fine and normal. Peeves was hovering above it, picking his nose.

"You built it? She told you to?" Enjolras asked the poltergeist.

The only response was a loud fart and then Peeves disappeared.

The rest of Les Amis arrived just seconds later, Marius and Cosette in the lead, Éponine, Combeferre, Courfeyrac and Feuilly guarding the back. They climbed the barricade and took the positions they had at the beginning of the school year. The Entrance Hall was in uproar, confused students running in every direction and the Security Squad trying to fight their way through.

Someone was climbing the barricade. Enjolras had a Shield Charm ready, but he put his wand down when he saw Courfeyrac's girlfriend Martha and Gavroche with his friend Bill.

"I figured you might need an extra hand," Martha said and jumped down to Courfeyrac's arms.

And suddenly more people were pouring in, the whole Defense Club No. 2, and Feuilly and Courfeyrac were leading them to the smaller barricades that were built to make sure they wouldn't be attacked from the rear, and Enjolras only watched.

Éponine pressed a red flag in his hand. "I told you, you don't have to do it alone."

"You're all going to be expelled."

"We know. It's probably worth it," she grinned.

"They're coming," shouted Joly.

Enjolras looked over the barricade to see that the Security Squad finally got organized and Umbridge was leading them up the stairs.

"Just make sure they don't get over the barricade," shouted Enjolras. "Don't hurt them if you don't have to."

Then he had to fight. On his left Combeferre moved with grim concentration, hitting every target with frightening accuracy. Next to Combeferre danced the Thénardier sisters, as dangerous as they were graceful. On his right Joly laughed whenever he managed to avoid a spell. He had Bossuet and Musichetta at his side and the three of them worked as one being, protecting each other. Enjolras dodged curses, cast protective spells, disarmed people, stunned, he fought with every inch of his being. He felt like he was born for this moment, like he was born to free Hogwarts.

He didn't know how long it took, but finally Umbridge retreated to the Entrance Hall. She barked orders they didn't understand and stormed off. Enjolras allowed himself to sit down.

"You're a bunch of idiots," he said.

"Yes, and you're our leader," said Courfeyrac, who came back from the smaller barricades. "Alone you could make a gesture, but the lot of us? We can make a difference. Chocolate Frog?"

"No, thanks. You don't have to ruin your future for this," Enjolras insisted.

"Really, how thick is he?" Azelma asked no one in particular.

"C'mon, Enjolras, we're not here because we think we have to," added Bahorel.

There was a moment of silence.

"So, what's the plan?" asked Marius.

"To hold on as long as we can," replied Enjolras.

"Damn," mutter Grantaire darkly. "I should have brought more Firewhiskey."

* * *

Enjolras assigned the watches and then he found Éponine, curled at the foot of the barricade. He sat down next to her and for some time they didn't say a word.

"I'm sorry," said Éponine. "I was acting like a five-year-old."

"I was worse," Enjolras smiled. "I'm sorry too. I should have told you all that things more gently, and at better time."

"I knew you were right," she said. "I just couldn't admit it."

"Still, I was an ass," he shrugged.

"You were," Éponine laughed. "Are we good now?"

"Yes, we are good." She leaned on his shoulder and he hugged her with one arm. "So, this is all your work?" he asked her.

"No, not all of it. I kind of read that letter, sorry," she said, but the apology didn't sound very sincere. "Then I mentioned to Courf and R that you're about to do something crazy today, one thing led to another... But the barricades, that's Feuilly, Bahorel and Azelma."

"And the other people?"

"We didn't tell anyone except Les Amis. I suppose that the rest just joined when they saw us," Éponine shrugged. "Do you think it will work, the letter?"

"If it doesn't, we're all screwed," said Enjolras simply.

The night was endless. Now and then somebody started a song, but the singing always died away after a few lines. The jokes were awkward and nobody laughed at them. There was a thousand of unspoken questions lingering in the air but nobody dared to ask them, let alone answer them. The Security Squad was keeping an eye on the barricade, but Umbridge was nowhere to be seen. Enjolras envied the few people who could actually sleep.

After what felt like years the darkness turned gray. That was when the front door opened and they all felt it. The cold crept in first. He saw Jehan shiver and pulled his own robes closer. Suddenly Azelma screamed.

He turned to see what was wrong and then it him. It was like his grandma died again. It was like his grandfather told him again that he was a worthless dreamer, who couldn't achieve anything in life. _I know you think I'm just an old idiot, don't you, Sebastien? I'm sure you wish I died and shut up as soon as possible. That's right, because an old idiot like me doesn't deserve your respect, does he? Because you're the great revolutionary, who's going to change the world. Dream on, son, dream on. _The poisonous laughter of the old man filled his ears again.

"Please, _Papa_, please..." Éponine begged somewhere near.

Enjolras looked through his tears and saw Combeferre curled on the floor, his hands pressed to his ears, Courfeyrac crawling away from the barricade, Musichetta sobbing uncontrollably, Jehan absently staring at thin air, Azelma trying to punch an invisible enemy. And above them, over the barricade, hovered a huge figure in black cloak and sucked their strength away.

_Wand, _Enjolras thought, but what was the point? He was a waste of space, there was no way he could make a decent Patronus. Was the Dementor going to kiss them? Did he lead all of his friends to fate worse than death?

Suddenly somebody got up. He staggered, but he raised his wand.

"_Expecto..._"

Enjolras recognized Grantaire's voice, shaking, but trying hard to make the spell work.

"_Expecto patronum_!"

Nothing happened. The Dementor came closer and grandfather's voice in Enjolras' head became louder and more mocking. _Really, and how do you want to do that? By **debating**? You don't know a thing about the world, baby boy. It understands only power and that's something you're never going to have._

"_Expecto patronum_!" Grantaire repeated and this time he managed to conjure a puff of white smoke. The Dementor hesitated and for a second it's effect wasn't so strong. It didn't last long, but it was enough for Enjolras to grasp his wand.

_A happy thought... happy memory... _For a moment he couldn't remember anything. The Dementor was closing in on Grantaire, who made a third attempt to produce a Patronus, but managed only another feeble cloud of mist. Enjolras heard Azelma scream again and Bahorel trying to make a Patronus too, and suddenly he remembered. He closed his eyes and saw the Quidditch pitch again, Courfeyrac giving Gavroche the piggyback, and Bahorel kissing Azelma. He hummed _La Marsellaise _quietly.

"_Expecto patronum_!"

The silver shield was not as strong as he needed it to be, but he moved to stand between Grantaire and the Dementor anyway.

"Help me!" he shouted, because he knew that he couldn't keep it at bay for much longer.

Then he remembered Marius' green hair, Azelma's teasing, the first visit after Éponine woke up after the Hogsmeade attack...

"_Expecto patronum_!"

And there it was, a big silvery lion shaking it's mane. For a moment the Dementor seemed to be retreating, his friends were getting up, some of them even trying the Patronus Charm themselves.

But then two more Dementors crossed the barricade, followed by the Security Squad. Something warm and sharp hit him in the chest and he collapsed to the ground. He saw a silver eagle swoop at the nearest Dementor and then he lost consciousness.


	10. Les Amis Say Goodbye

**The last chapter, there is only epilogue left. What was the fate of the Hogwarts barricade?**

**A longer author's note will be in the epilogue.**

**Enjoy and review.**

* * *

**10. Les Amis Say Goodbye**

What actually woke him up was Azelma yelling: "He's waking up!" and Musichetta shushing her.

Everything was too bright and everything hurt. He squinted and the first face he saw was Éponine's. She looked like she had been crying. Azelma was standing right behind her. Next to Éponine sat Joly and Musichetta. Enjolras looked to the other side of his bed, where he found Combeferre, Feuilly and Jehan. Combeferre had one hand bandaged and Jehan had a nasty cut on his forehead.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice quiet and raspy.

"Dumbledore arrived. There were enough witnesses to make sure that Umbridge is accused of attacking students," said Joly. "There was no permanent damage done, but the Ministry agreed that Dumbledore is the only one who can keep some semblance of order here, so he's the Headmaster again."

"But we almost lost you, you idiot," said Éponine. She still sounded a little teary. "It took Madame Pomfrey and two Healers from St. Mungo's to get the curse out of your system."

"How long?" Enjolras asked. The light looked like morning. "And the others?"

"Three days. They'll let Bahorel go tomorrow, he was cursed," said Azelma. "Grantaire almost didn't make it, some jinx combined with the exhaustion, but he is getting better now," she pointed to the bed behind Combeferre, where Enjolras could see his sleeping friend. "Marius is healing too, but he's already out of the Hospital Wing. Bossuet and Courf were just released, they are going to come here any moment."

Enjolras closed his eyes for a moment. "Umbridge is gone?"

"Yes."

"And no one died?"

"No."

"Are we expelled?"

"No. Look," said Jehan. Enjolras opened is eyes and saw _The Daily Prophet_. The whole first page covered the story of what they called The English French Revolution. His own face was sternly staring at him from a huge photograph accompanying the article.

"They're already queuing to make an interview with you," said Musichetta.

"Great," muttered Enjolras and passed out again.

* * *

When he next woke up, his friends were gone, but somebody sitting next to him, reading _The Daily Prophet_. When he moved, his visitor lowered the paper and Enjolras saw that it was Dumbledore.

"Good evening, Mr. Enjolras," he said. "It's nice to see that your adventure will not leave any permanent consequences."

"Did it work? Did you get my letter?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Your friend Miss Thénardier has very interesting methods, but she does get the job done. I was very impressed by your plan. You staged a riot and provoked Mrs. Umbridge, so I could arrive in time, save the day, and earn my old post back. Very well thought-out, indeed."

"Well, I knew that in the end we didn't stand a chance against her. But we could give _you _a chance to prove the Ministry wrong," Enjolras shrugged and slowly sat up. It still hurt, but he felt much better.

"It was very brave and very noble of you," said Dumbledore. "I want to thank you."

"I did it for Hogwarts," Enjolras said, before he realized how weird it sounded. "And for you too, of course..." he added hastily.

"That's all right," Dumbledore waved his hand. "Can I have a Chocolate Frog? I have a very interesting letter here from Olympe Maxime, the new Deputy Headmistress of Beauxbatons. She's looking for somebody to teach a subject called "Basic Defensive Spells". Their current teacher is getting old and wants an assistant, who would take on the lessons in a few years. They were quite impressed by your story and want you to consider this job. Apparently their only condition is that you don't start any revolutions," he winked.

Enjolras took a moment to think about it. "Better talk to Ferre. He's much better teacher than me and I'm pretty sure that his Patronus got rid of the Dementors. The Ravenclaw eagle."

"Mr. Combeferre's eagle, but I also saw a horse, a dog, and something that looked like a raccoon," added Dumbledore.

"Yeah, that's Courfeyrac, Marius and Joly. Or the dog might be Éponine, her Patronus is the same as Marius'. They managed to do it too?"

"Yes. And the Thénardier sisters and Miss Fauchelevent apprehended Mrs. Umbridge."

"Cosette got Umbridge?" Enjolras laughed. "The news keep getting better and better."

"There's much more to Miss Fauchelevent than meets the eye."

There was a moment of silence and then Dumbledore got up. "I must leave you now. Thank you again, and if you ever want to return to Hogwarts, I will be more than happy to welcome you back."

* * *

"We can still get detention," fussed Bossuet.

"It's our last night here and we're the heroes of the school. Calm down and help me with those," said Courfeyrac, who carried an armful of Chinese lanterns. Bossuet waved his wand and almost set one lantern on fire.

"Here, let me," Musichetta rushed to him and hung the lanterns on the branches of the tree next to the lake. Cosette, Feuilly and Joly were setting a picnic, Grantaire was pouring drinks, and Combeferre and Marius were preparing a small campfire.

The June night was warm and Enjolras wanted it to last forever. He thought about Dumbledore's offer and was tempted to run to the Headmaster's office and tell him he accepted. But he promised himself a year of traveling the world, and then maybe he will think of returning to Hogwarts.

Soon everything was ready. Grantaire toasted to the journalist slowly forgetting their story. Musichetta passed Pumpkin Pasties and Treacle tarts. Azelma dyed Marius' hair pink when he wasn't looking and he accidentally set her shoes on fire when he found out. Bahorel used a Tickling Charm on him as a revenge, to which Cosette reacted by Petrifying Bahorel. Enjolras saw Éponine getting ready to join and stopped them before it turned into a full-fledged family feud.

After the picnic Jehan suggested a late-night game of Quidditch, so Éponine borrowed the balls and some of the school's brooms for them. There was a lot of squabbling over the teams, because Bahorel and Azelma wanted to play together and the rest claimed that it wouldn't be fair. When they finally agreed on the teams, they played three games.

After that some of them went swimming in the lake. Joly warned them repeatedly that they would freeze, but even though the water was cold, it was pleasant. Éponine kept diving and pulling the legs of people swimming above her, until she was ambushed by a group of particularly audacious Grindylows. Enjolras and Jehan had to help her get rid of them, and when Combeferre told her that she deserved it for teasing them, she splashed at him. Unfortunately the water hit Courfeyrac and it resulted in a long, ferocious splashing battle.

When they climbed back on the shore, they were all soaked, even those who never went swimming. Enjolras used his wand to dry himself and then he noticed something.

The castle was lit and it looked just as beautiful as when he had seen it for the first time all those years ago. He walked a little further from the group to enjoy the view and he didn't turn around when someone joined him.

"It won't be the same without you," said Éponine.

"Maybe it will. You'll still have fun, the lot of you. You need to teach Gavroche how to make Hogwarts remember us a little longer," he smiled.

"I don't think they will forget us any time soon."

"Yes, I suppose we made an impression," said Enjolras.

"We did good," Éponine agreed. "You parents must be so proud of you."

"They are. How about yours?"

"I didn't get any money for it, so they don't care. But something else happened," she added and rose her wand. "_Expecto patronum_."

Something big and silver erupted from the tip of her wand, but it wasn't the dog Enjolras had seen at the Defense Club practice, the golden retriever so similar to Marius' Patronus. It was a bird. For a second he thought it was a phoenix, but he was wrong. It was a heron.

"Does that mean that you're over him?" he asked.

"I'll never be over him, not really. But he has Cosette and I have my own life to live. I let him go."

The silver heron circled them and disappeared. Enjolras thought about what he should tell her, but everything sounded either cheesy or plain stupid. She didn't make it any easier, she just stared at the castle and didn't say a word.

"This year, I couldn't have done any of it without you," he admitted finally.

"I know," she laughed.

"Thank you."

"Shut up." She nudged him playfully in the ribs. "It's what I do."

Behind them their friends laughed and joked around, but they didn't want to join them yet. They stood silent for a moment, admiring Hogwarts. It was his home, the one he was willing to fight for. Whatever was going to happen in the years to come, he would always be the boy who studied at Hogwarts and saved it. He was the leader of the English French Revolution and there was one more thing he had to do for his school.

"Éponine?"

"Yes?"

"I have a thing I want to ask you for."

"Yes?"

"Next year... make sure you do a prank on your first day. And make it a good one, we'll be watching you."

"Don't worry, I already have a plan," she laughed.

He laughed with her and hugged her with one arm. "That's my girl."

Together they walked back to the lake to enjoy the last night of Les Amis at Hogwarts.


	11. Les Amis After Twelve Years

**And here we are, the epilogue. I hoped you enjoyed it, it was fun to write. I especially enjoyed writing Azelma and Bahorel, which was quite a surprise.**

**Thank you all for your support, thanks for your reading. If you could give me one last review, it would make very happy. If you can't, thank you anyway.**

**So – here you are.**

* * *

**Epilogue: Twelve Years Later**

It was early July, only two weeks after the disastrous end of the Triwizard Tournament. The meeting of the Order of Phoenix at 12 Grimmauld Place went as usual, only Dumbledore seemed a little distracted. He told them they were expecting a visit, but didn't tell them whom to expect. The Weasleys, who wanted to spend most of the summer keeping company to Sirius Black, weren't supposed to arrive for another week and even the members of the first Order couldn't think of anyone else who could help.

The visitors were announced by Mrs. Black's portrait screaming her head off. Sirius ran out to close the curtains and came back with a large group of people.

Their leader was tall and handsome in almost feminine way – golden hair, blue eyes, face of a Greek god. His hair was a bit shorter than Dumbledore remembered it, but the enthusiastic spark in his eyes hadn't changed. Next to him was a dark-haired woman, solemn, but confident. Her sister was still holding hands with her old sweetheart, and the golden rings suggested that the two Quidditch players got married. A beautiful blond woman kept close to her freckled husband, and the rest was there as well – the hypochondriac and the unlucky one and their shared lover, the drunk, the philosopher, the heart, the poet, the orphan, and even the little boy, who was now tall and handsome, but still a little boyish.

Bill Weasley ran forward to shake hands with the youngest one and Dumbledore himself greeted their leader.

"Sorry we are late, we were waiting for the Bahorels," said the leader.

"Our babysitter came late," the younger sister defended herself.

"That's all right, sit down," Dumbledore gestured to the empty chairs.

It took some time for the whole group to settle down, but when they did, the leader leaned forward and smiled.

"So, I heard you need someone to cause trouble."


End file.
